Improved mode of treating bamboo, cane, and othee fibeous plants



gain giants iiflstrut @ffirr CHARLES HEATON,OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Letters Patent NJ. 66,338 dated July 2, 1867.

IMPROVED MODE OI TREATING BAMBOO, CANE, AND OTHER FI'BROUS PLANT S EH32fitigthnle rtfrrrtt in it flgtst fitters ilitlti nut making and of tip5min.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, CHARLES HEATON, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have discovered a new and improved Method of Treating CrudeVegetable Fibrous Productions; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

In the reduction of such vegetable fibrous materials as bamboo, can-e,straw, cornstalks sorghum, basswood, and pine, where the material is tobe reduced from its natural or undisintegrated state, I have found thatthe application of a caustic alkaline solution, (KO. H0 or Na 0. 110,)either hot or cold, produces among others the following results: Thealkaline solution, which is more or less transparent when first appliedto any of the abovementioned materials, becomes after a time more orless opaque and dark-colored, depending on the nature of the crude fibreto which it is applied, and also on the amount of heat which may beused. If the material under treatment is first subjected toheat, andthen to a causticv'alkaline' solution cold, or of a lesstemperature'than the heat first applied, as described in my patent ofAugust 1, 1865, No. 49,I0l5,.the alkaline solution becomes dark-coloredand opaque within two or three hours after application. But if thematerial to be disintegrated is not subjected to heat, but simply placedina cold solutionof caustic alkali, I find it takes more time for thematerial to be permeated by the solution and to become soft enough formechanical disintegration, and also that the alkaline solution does notbecome so dark or opaque, but if the material to be disintegrated besubjected to great heat or pressure and caustic alkali combined I findit is disintegrated to a pulp, and that the alkaline solution becomesvery dark and opaque, in fact of a'pitchy or sticky nature. I havediscovered that this darkness or opacity of the alkaline solution iscaused by the resinous portions of the gum being dissolved or taken upand suspended in the solution, and the greater the quantity or qualityof heat applied the greater the quantity ofresinous matter taken up, thesofter the fibre, and the less the yield from a given quantity of crudematerial. Partially disintegrated fibrous matter, suchas manilla rope,new 'or old, gives the same result when treated with caustic alkalinesolutions. It is usual, and I believe has always beenconsideredmecessary, to remove this dark-colored solution from thefibrous matter by washing, and in the manufacture of pap-er it is alwayswashed out, such washing necessitating a waste of more or less fibre,besides taking time and labor. My inven tion is designed to save suchwashing and at the same time to utilize the aforesaid resinous portionsof the material instead of removing and wasting them. i

To enable those skilled in the art to make use of my inventionordiscovery, I will describe my method of proceeding with bamboo, firstremarking that the same is applicable to' all crude orpartiallydisintegrated fibrous materials, subject only to suchmodifications as are well understood by those skilled in the art,

In the manufacture of paper from bamboo, I first soften and prepare thecrude material for mechanical dis integration by subjecting it to theaction of a caustic alkaline solution, as described in my patents ofprevious dates.- After the material has become soft and ready forreduction to pulp, and before removing it from the vessel in which ithas been treated, I apply a concentrated solution of alum, theproportion wbichl prefer to use being about .two hundred pounds of.alum(A1 0 3SO +KO SO +24HO, or A1 0 3SO Na O SO 24 HO,) usually calledpotash or soda alum. Chlorohydric (HCL) or sulphuricfso acid will do,but I prefer to use alum, as before stated. The alum so used will befound to precipitate that portion of the gum which gives or causes theopacity in the solution, and to leave the solution perfectly clear andtransparent as it was first applied when this precipitation has. takenplace. drain off the solution from the fibrous matlEr and transfer thefibrous matter to the rag engine, well'known in paper-mills, and,used'for washing and heating or reducing fibrousmatter to pulp. I reducethe softened material in this engine in the usual manner, except that Ido not wash it or size it. In the manufacture of paper from bamboo,which I am now carrying on at Rhinebeck, New York, I proceed as follows:First, I place the bamboo in its crude state, only split up, into a tankwith two hundred and fifty pounds of caustic soda or potashto a ton, andenough water to cover it. ,This done, I apply heat through the medium ofsteam to accelerate the softening of-the material. When it is soft,which is in about twenty-four hours after applying the steam, I drainofi the dark opaque solution and precipitate the gums by a solution ofalum, as before described. I transfer the soft material to the rag orbeating engine, and,

with enough water to float it, beat it to pulp. I do not wash it, simplybeat it in the same water. After heating it for an hour the fibrousmatter is moderately uniform pulp, and the water in which it has beenbeaten is of a dark color, and quite opaque. At this stage I add fromsin to ten pounds ofalum, or enough to precipitate the gum in solutioninto the pulp, and in from ten minutes to a quarter of an hour I findthe water in.the engine has become clear and transparent, the gums thatwere in solution or suspension being-precipitated into the pulp, wherethey remain to substitute the use of resin or other matter for sizing.And after beating the material to pulp, and running it over the papermachine into paper, I find that the gum so precipitated is not only somuch gain tothe weight of paper from a given quantity of crudeinaterial, but also that the paper is more uniformly and better sizedthan it would have been by any other method. In the manufacture of whitepaper I proceed in the same way, except that after I have applied thealum and rendered the solution clear by precipitation, I Wash thematerial to free it from the trace of chemicals in the water, and thenbleach the fibre and precipitated gum in the ordinary manner. I

The advantage of my discovery is that I save the cost and trouble ofapplying an artificial sizing, as well as that I increase the yield ofpaper from a given quantity of raw material, while it takes no more alumor acid to precipitate the gum and thus form a sizing than it would dowere I to wash out and waste these gums and then apply an artificialsizing and alum or acid to set or precipitate that sizing.

I do not claim the use of alum or acid broadly as a precipitator, for Iknow that it is used for that purpose,

but heretofore acids have only been used in paper-making to precipitateforeign or extraneous matters, such as size or color, which have beenadded to the pulp after it has been washed and prepared for it, whereasI use alum or acid for precipitating that portion of the gum whichdiscolors the chemical solution, thereby rendering the customary washingunnecessary, saving the waste of fibre attendant on such washing, andutilizing that "which has heretofore been wasted,

I I do not limit myself to any kind of acid, or to any particular timeor way of applying it, but I claim as new, and as my invention, which Idesire to secure by'Lett'crs Patent of the United States-. a

1. Saving and utilizing the resinous and other soluble portions ofvegetable fibrous matter, which are usually washed out and wasted, inthe manner set forth.

2. The employment of alum or acid in paper-making, whenever the same isso applied as to precipitate that portion of the gum which is now washedout and wasted.

3. In the disintegration of vegetable fibrous matter, when an alkalinesolution has been used and become discolored or opaque, or partially so,I claim the employment of alum for precipitating the suspended matter orclarifying the solution, asherein set forth.

, CHAS. HEATON.

Witnesses:

A. Ln Gnuac, J. Unounna'r.

